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By Jeff Whitten
Bryan County News

POSTED:June 4, 2014 5:00 a.m.

Taylor Carpenter/

Operators Willie Hannah, Timothy Thompson and Bernard Fraeier, and Foreman Danny Hiscock, work on construction on Timber Trail Road in Richmond Hill. The stoplight to be installed at the intersection of Highway 144 and Timber Trail Road is expected to be in effect soon.

Work is nearing completion on a traffic signal at Timber Trail Road and Highway 144, but it could be July before the light is working. “Construction should be substantially complete by the middle of this month and we hope to have the signal actuated by July 1, depending on the Georgia Department of Transportation schedule,” said Bryan County engineer Kirk Croasmun. Georgia DOT spokeswoman Jill Nagel said no completion date has been given by the contractor doing the work, but “it is getting close,” she said. The light is part of a larger project which includes work on water lines and repair of Timber Trail, expected to cost about $550,000 when finished. The signal was first projected to be ready in April, but that was bumped back to Memorial Day due to various snags. The signal is one of a number of improvements on Highway 144, which currently averages a daily traffic count of about 11,000 vehicles. That number is expected to increase substantially with the DOT estimating more than 30,000 vehicles a day travelling 144 in the coming decades. Recently, the DOT restriped 144 at its intersection with Highway 17 North to add a turn-only lane, while work on the widening of 144 from Timber Trail to Belfast River Road could begin in 2015.